I’ve always wondered this. They don’t migrate and head south, or conversely migrate and head north. They are rather sentient beings. But they don’t all end up where it’s warm, either. Every so often, I see a fly in the house. City flies are fast and country flies are slow. I see the country flies. And what do I do when I see them? I just sit and drink my tea and watch them stagger around, like they are intoxicated.

I suppose I could Google the question, which is, where do flies go in the winter? And I’d get a definitive answer. But I don’t want a definitive answer. I want to continue to speculate, and also to see what others have to say. Google is too much of a deal breaker.

We don’t have many flies around here even when it’s warm because we have a very effective manure management program. The worms, they burrow down deep, into the compost and manure. But flies, where they go, and what they do, and how they do it, remains a mystery.

I could maybe stand on a street corner and ask people where do flies go in the winter? Now I just asked, Pete said that “they hibernate – a lot of flies die but they laid eggs, which hatch in the spring.” I asked, and I was just told that the maggots appear after the eggs hatch. I asked him how he knows this, and he said “I don’t know.” He who was reading a book wasn’t interested in elaborating.

My other question is equally puzzling. I have always wondered at what point is a vegetable, like a head of lettuce, officially dead? I just asked Pete this and he hemmed and hawed then said, “probably when you can’t eat it.” So he does not know the answer to this question, either.

Actually, I think that Pete just doesn’t want to invest any more energy in attempting to answer these questions.

I spend a lot of time by myself, mainly horseback riding. Our horses are so bomber now that my mind wanders, allowing me more thinking time than most.

Sometimes I listen to what the horses have to say, but mostly, I’m in my own head. Always have been, always will be.

Today, like yesterday, even more so, it was cold out; however, the sun was shining. I got out quickly, after milking Swampy, and cleaned the horse pen, and also put the five-gallon buckets that were in front of the horse pen, in Fish Habitat (the old 75 Dodge truck).

Then I got horses out; of course, I first got out Hrimfara, because she has a thick coat and sweats and doesn’t dry off in the evening, then Raudi, then Tinni (walked) and then Tyra. By the time I was done, it was getting dark.

I did grouse some about having to deal with all the cold-related chores. And I cursed when I came in at 5 p.m. and I had to thaw my Setiger Mukluks before removing them. The price I pay, yes, is that as onerous as cleaning up behind animals is, I get plenty of time to line up my cognitive ducks.

Next: 314. 11/13/21: Shadow’s Dog Blog: ‘Gility Today